[Lord Snooty]

Watford v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Saturday January 16th - 15:00 ko
at Vicarage Road

Huddersfield Town travel to Hertfordshire to play Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon for a game against an opponent we beat only four weeks ago. Can we repeat it and do the double over the Hornets, just like we did in our first season in the Premier League? If we did, we would be only three points behind them, an unthinkable thing to say at the start of the season. I expect manager, sorry Head Coach, Carlos Corberán to show contempt for the opposition by making no fewer than eleven changes to the starting line up from Saturday's close fought FA Cup match, a defeat at home to League One Plymouth Argyle. Scorers Romoney Crichlow and Aaron Rowe will likely be thanked for their efforts by being demoted to the bench.
Or will they? Isaac Mbenza has been self isolating and so if he's still not available, it could mean a start for Rowe, who scored the best goal of the entire 3rd round. Top Bins! On the other hand though, it could be a first start for new signing Rolando Aarons, though I reckon he's more likely to start on the left hand side. Could we have both Aarons on the pitch?

As for Watford, they have changed managers, sorry Head Coaches, since we met last month. More of that further down...... Keep reading, you'll get there eventually. It's no surprise, they change managers more than I change my socks. Also departed is the nice lad who gifted us the early Christmas prezzie of an own goal. That wasn't Saint Nick though, but another saintly name, Étienne Capoue. He's gone to Spain.
Their team selection? Well don't ask me. In my last match thread I informed you all that Reading's top scorer was out injured, only for him to make a miraculous recovery, start the game and then fire home two goals to win the match.        
Well keep reading and you'll see I've posted both their last line ups, the league game at Swansea and the FA cup match against Manchester Utd and you can make your own minds up who they'll start with.




A brief history of Watford FC: formed in 1881 as Watford Rovers, becoming West Hertfordshire in 1893 and then merging with Watford St Mary's in 1896 to be known henceforth as Watford FC. They played in the Southern League and their home was at Cassio Road. When the Football League was extended in 1921/22, they were founder members of the new Division Three (South). That first FL season saw a record crowd at Cassio Road of 13,000 turn out for the local derby against Luton Town and that would remain the record as in the next season they moved to Vicarage Road.

They stayed in Div3(S) for it's entire existence and when the two regional divisions were made national in 1958, they were placed in Division Four. It was around this time that they changed their kit from blue to the gold shirts and black shorts that are familiar today and adopted the nickname of The Hornets.

Promotion proved elusive for Watford in those Div3(S) days, but it only took two years in the new 4th Division for them to get promoted, when they went up in 59/60 in 4th position behind Walsall, Notts County and Torquay Utd. Cliff Holton scored a club record 48 goals in the season. That was under the management of Ron Burgess and when he left, the job went to the Bournemouth manager Bill McGarry, who had spent ten years playing for Huddersfield Town. He brought into the side a couple of names who would go on to become big names in the game, but not necessarily with Watford. One of them was striker Ron Saunders, who to be fair was already a big name having a great scoring record for Portsmouth, but would later in life go on to manage Aston Villa to the League title. The other one was young goalkeeper Pat Jennings, who after one season at Vicarage Road was sold to Spurs and he would go on to be a legend at both Tottenham and their North London rivals, Arsenal, as well as his country Northern Ireland.

Bill McGarry

When McGarry left to go and manage Ipswich, his job went to Ken Furphy. His key signing was Barry Endean, who would later go on to be a disappointing flop at Huddersfield Town, but at Watford, his goals helped them to their first promotion to the 2nd Division, by winning the 3rd Division title in 1968/69. They won the title while level on points with Swindon Town but with a better Goal Average.

All was looking good down at the Vicarage, so much so that in the first season in the 2nd Division, they reached the FA Cup semi finals. They lost at White Hart Lane against Chelsea, who went on to win the Cup and despite this almost success, they struggled in the league. Finances were also poor and key players were sold, resulting in relegation back to Div 3 in 72 and then all the way back down to Div 4 in 75. Hope for the future was already there though. They had a celebrity fan at the club and he became chairman in 1976. He was, of course, speccy pop singer, Elton John.

Elton managed to persuade Graham Taylor to leave Lincoln, who he guided to the 4th Division title, and he persuaded Elton that the greyhound track around the pitch had to go. It was the start of a successful rebuild. First up, they won the 4th Division title in 77/78, finishing 11 points ahead of Southend Utd when it was still only 2 points for a win. Next season, they went up again, this time as runners up to Shrewsbury Town. After finishes of 18th and 9th in Division 2, they finally made it to the First Division for the first time in the club's history in 81/82 as they finished runners up to local rivals, Luton Town.

Vicarage Road with the greyhound track

They had some young upcoming stars in the team, the likes of Luther Blissett and John Barnes. Their goals fired them all the way to the top. They led the First Division for a while in the early part of the season and by the end of it, they had achieved their highest ever finish, ending the season as runners up to Liverpool. From Division 4 to Division 1 runners up in just 7 years.

This led them into their first venture into Europe, which went as far as the 3rd round of the UEFA Cup when they were beaten by Sparta Prague of Czechoslovakia. They followed their first venture into Europe later that season with a first venture to Wembley by reaching the 1984 FA Cup Final. They lost 0-2, beaten by Everton.

They qualified for Europe again by finishing 5th in 85/86, but were denied entry by the fact that the English clubs had been Brexitted following the Heysel disaster. The following season saw a bigger disaster for the Hornets when Taylor decided to leave. He was dazzled by the bright lights of Birmingham and went to manage Aston Villa. Barnes left as well. He went to Liverpool in a club record transfer.

Taylor's replacement was Dave Bassett, who had worked wonders with Wimbledon. He didn't last long and was sacked before the club was relegated at the end of 87/88. His replacement was former player Steve Harrison. He guided them to the Play Offs in that first season back in the 2nd tier but they lost on the away goals rule in the semis. They got nowhere near in the next few seasons until, with Glenn Roeder at the helm, got relegated to the 3rd tier in 1996.

After managing England and being turned into a turnip by the press, Taylor came back to Watford as boss for a second stint just before that relegation. He appointed former player Kenny Jackett as his head coach. The second Taylor era started moderately with a mid table finish, but the next season saw them win the title, winning promotion back to the 2nd tier. They followed that with another promotion, this time winning their first Play Off Final, beating Bolton Wanderers at Wembley 2-0. Goals came from Nick Wright and Allan Smart and Taylor's magic had worked again. Watford were now in what was now known as the Premier League.

They came straight back down though, finishing bottom of the table and Taylor decided to retire. Gianluca Vialli got the job and set about spending the money received from the new tv deal that the FL had struck with ITV Digital. He spent millions on players, who didn't perform and Vialli got the boot when his team only finished in mid table. Ray Lewington took over, but results didn't improve much and to make matters worse, ITV Digital went bust and so Watford, like many others, Town included, were up shit creek financially.

They struggled along, avoiding going into administration and even having a decent Cup run, getting to the semi finals in 2004. They made it to the League Cup semis in the next one, but despite the good cup form, results in the league were poor and Lewington was sacked. To be replaced by the young, inexperienced, ex Town full back Aidy Boothroyd. He stopped the rot and despite the worries, relegation was easily avoided.

The next season though saw much better progress, culminating in a successful Play Off campaign. They beat Crystal Palace 3-0 on aggregate, to set up a Final at the Millennium Stadium against the Skip Dwelling Bums of Beeston. Leeds were the favourites, just because they're Leeds, but that meant nothing to the reality of the situation as the Hornets hammered them 3-0. American international Jay DeMerit opened the scoring and it was 1-0 at half time. James Chambers had a shot in the 57th minute that was deflected onto the post. Don't laugh! The ball rebounded off the post, hit keeper Neil Sullivan on the back of the head and went in. I said don't laugh. Darius Henderson then scored a late penalty to wrap it up and so they were back in the Prem. Could they stay a bit longer this time?

No! They did make it to the FA Cup semis again though and Boothroyd extended his contract in the hope of bouncing back again. They made it to the Play Offs, but failed this time, losing 1-6 on aggregate to Hull City at the semi stage. Boothroyd left early in the next one. He was replaced by a series of managers who would go on to have success elsewhere in Brendan Rodgers, Malky Mackay and Sean Dyche.

The Pozzo family bought the club in 2012 and ditched Dyche in favour of Gianfranco Zola. It almost paid dividends with the club reaching the Play Offs again. In a remarkable semi final, they beat Leicester City with a famous injury time winner from Troy Deeney after Anthony Knockaert had missed a penalty up the other end. They went through 3-2 on aggregate and met Crystal Palace in the Final at Wembley. That match went to extra time but a Kevin Phillips penalty gave the Palace a 1-0 win and so Watford had to stay in the Championship.

The managerial merry-go-round went mental over the next few months with managers coming and going so often, they had to install revolving doors. But when Slaviša Jokanović had his two minutes in the hot seat, he managed to get them promoted in 2015, finishing as runners up to Bournemouth. He'd been replaced before the new season kicked off by Quique Sánchez Flores and he kept them up, achieving a respectable mid table position as well as a trip to Wembley for the FA Cup semi finals.

More managers came and went. Javi Gracia came in and got them to the FA Cup Final of 2019. Unfortunately, they met Manchester City bang in form and got absolutely mullered 6-0. And in the next season, 2019/20, despite ending Liverpool's unbeaten run, they were relegated back to the Championship.

Head to Head



Town lead the head to head with 15 wins to Watford's 11, with 5 draws.

Our first ever meetings came in 1969/70. This is so late in the history of both clubs because for years we had been in completely different ends of the Football League, but Watford had come up to the 2nd Division and earned a 1-1 draw at their place in September, with full back Dennis Clarke getting a rare goal for us. The next match was the last game of the season and seeing as we had just secured the Division Two Champions title, Watford gave us a Guard of Honour as our brave lads ran out on to the pitch at Leeds Road. And it was a fittingly brilliant performance as Town won 3-1 in front of 27,916 spectators, with goals from Dick Krzywicki (2) and Jimmy Lawson. Happy Days!

Happy days indeed, but what followed was the two of us tumbling down the league ladder til we eventually played each other in the 4th Division. We met on the opening day of the 73/74 season, our first ever game in the 3rd tier. It was a 1-1 draw at Watford and Bobby Hoy scored for us. They came up to Leeds Road in January and got their first win over us, 2-1 with Alan Gowling getting ours. We met again in the next season, which was a disastrous one for us both. They finished 23rd and we finished 24th. We won 3-1 at home and in the match at theirs, lost 0-1.

And so we had three seasons together in the league basement division. We did the double over them in the first one. Wayne Goldthorpe gave us a 1-0 win at Leeds Road in the penultimate match of the season to leave us in 5th place still with a chance of promotion. But a drab goal less draw against Bradford City put an end to that. The next season, we only got one point off them and in the next, each team won the home game. The 1-0 win at Leeds Road being particularly pleasing, as Watford were running away with the title and a goal from Terry Gray gave us hope that we might join them in the top 4. It wasn't to be though.

Watford left us behind and by the time we met again, in the League Cup of 83/84, they had just finished as runners up in the First Division and were one hell of a football team. We were also on the up by this stage, having just won promotion back to the 2nd Division after a decade in the doldrums. David Cowling gave us the lead in the first leg, before a John Barnes spectacular goal equalised for the Hornets. An Ian Bolton own goal then gave us the lead to take down there for the second leg. What happened then was a result that ought to be more revered than it is. A cracking match that ended 2-2 on the night to give us the aggregate win, but it was one of the best Town performances of the Mick Buxton era. Two centre backs, Dave Sutton and Paul Jones, gave us the win.

It would be another decade before we met up again in the league. It was in the 2nd tier after we got promoted by beating Bristol Rovers at Wembley. The season was 95/96 and it was just the one season together as Watford got relegated. We helped that relegation by winning both games 1-0. Ronnie Jepson getting the goal at the McAlpine and a Darren Bullock goal down there doing the job for us.

One more season together before the new century arrived. That was 98/99 as they came up from the 3rd Div and went straight up again. We beat them 2-0 at home, with another couple of legends, Marcus Stewart and Wayne Allison grabbing the goals. And then we got a point in a 1-1 draw down at theirs, with Chris Beech scoring that one. They came straight down and played the first game of the next season at ours and won 2-1. We got our revenge though, winning 2-1 down there just before Christmas, with Peter Ndlovu, who was on loan from Birmingham and Delroy Facey scoring as we won 2-1. We got relegated though and avoided each other in the league for another decade.

So then we had three high scoring sets of fixtures in the Championship, starting in 2012/13 when we came up from League One. The Hornets won the first two and the first one was won by an infamous cheat. Yes, the evil pantomime villain, Fernando Forestieri. We led at the Galpharm through Oliver Norwood, but then Cheaty McCheatface equalised, fairly if I remember rightly. Fitz Hall put them into the lead in the 83rd minute, but we wouldn't lie down and Alan Alan Lee scored a minute later to make it 2-2. So the game could go either way, unfortunately it went to them when the ref fell for the most outrageous dive from you know who. It was such an obvious one, we all expected the ref to book him, but no! He pointed to the bloody penalty spot!   Troy Deeney buried it and we'd lost. They hammered us 4-0 when we went down to theirs in January.

Cheaty McCheatface

The next season, they won at ours again. Danny Ward opened the scoring, then McCheatface equalised. Daniel Pudil put them ahead just before half time and that's how it finished. The game down at the Vicarage was the last match of the season and we were both neither going up nor down. It was 0-0 at half time, but the game sprang into life in the 46th minute when Joe Lolley, making his full debut, scored his first Town goal. Not only that, but he had two assists as well for Wardy who scored a hat trick. We were 4-0 up right until the last minute, when Peter Clarke, who was making his last Town appearance, came on as a sub and gave them a penalty. I say gave them a penalty, it was another obvious dive. Anyway, Deeney put away his third penalty against us.

The season after that, Watford went up, but we managed to get three points off them. Not down there though, they beat us 4-2, but at home, we beat them 3-1. Nahki Wells, James Vaughan and Joel Lynch scored in that game. Harry Bunn and Murray Wallace got the goals in the away game.

Three seasons later, we had won the Play Offs and so the two clubs met in the Premier League, making this fixture one of the few fixtures to have been played in all four of England's top divisions. Our first meeting in the Premier League was a bit special. It was the day that their defence just couldn't cope with the skill, the pace and the all round brilliance of the legend that is Collin Quaner. So much so that Deeney got himself sent off scything him down. Anyway, big Coll himself didn't get on the score sheet, but Elias Kachunga, Aaron Mooy (twice) and Laurent Depoitre did. Coll had a brilliant effort cleared off the line, which would've made it 5-1, so we had to settle for 4-1. Abdoulaye Doucoure got their consolation. Back at the John Smith's for the return fixture, we battered them again. Just that we had to wait until injury time to grab the winner. That was a famous and iconic moment of the season when Tom Ince slotted it home from a lovely pass from Zanka.

The two games in the following season though were very disappointing defeats. They beat us 3-0 down there and 2-1 at ours, with Karlan Grant getting a 90th minute consolation. This season, we won at our place, just before Christmas. It was a 2-0 win and a big mistake from Ben Foster to allow Isaac Mbenza set up Fraizer Campbell for the first goal and then Etienne Capoue sliced an Mbenza corner into his own net, saw the end of the road for the management of Vladimir Ivic.


So what's going on down the old Yellow Brick Road? Managed nowadays by Insert name here. There have been so many different managers at Watford since the Pozzo's took over in 2012, it seems pointless me doing any notes yet. At the time of our match just before Christmas it was Vladimir Ivić, but of course, that turned out to be his last game.

So shortly after that, they appointed Xisco Munoz. He's a Spaniard who played as a left winger, with clubs like Real Betis and Valencia. He won the UEFA Cup with Valencia in 2004 and ended his career playing for Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia. Well not quite, he went back to Spain for a couple of seasons with Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, but returned to Tbilisi in 2020 as Head Coach, from where he was then appointed as Watford boss last month.

And that's all I'm going to say about him, because I doubt he'll still be in charge before this match kicks off.

How many of these can you remember since the Pozzo's came to the club in 2012?

1. Gianfranco Zola; 66 matches in charge.
2. Giuseppe Sannino; 31
3. Óscar García; 4
4. Billy McKinlay; 2
5. Slaviša Jokanović; 35
6. Quique Sánchez Flores; 38
7. Walter Mazzarri; 38
8. Marco Silva; 26
9. Javi Gracia; 66
10. Quique Sánchez Flores (again); 12
11. Hayden Mullins (caretaker); 2
12. Nigel Pearson; 22
13. Hayden Mullins (caretaker again); 2
14. Vladimir Ivić; 20

Xisco Munoz

Who's in their squad then? The most famous player in their squad is most likely the skipper Troy Deeney. A popular player amongst supporters, team mates and pundits, he comes across as a decent bloke. Odd then that he spent time in t' nick for GBH after he and a friend kicked the shit out of some students outside a night club in 2012. He was sentenced to ten months, but was released after three. And what was the first thing he did on release? Scored the winner for Watford in a disgraceful incident already mentioned in the Head to Head section above, the time Foristieri cheated to get a penalty.
That wasn't his first goal against us. He'd already scored twice for Walsall against us. A cracking match at the Galpharm in 2010. We had led 2-0 at half time, but then he went and scored twice to equalise, before they then went and made it 3-2. They only had ten men on the pitch as well. Typical Town. But no. We went and scored twice in injury time, with goals from Antony Kay and Lee Novak, to send the crowd wild.
At the end of that season, he was transferred to Watford and banged home a whopping 3 goals in 40 matches in the Championship. So how did he end up in the position he is now? Well the following season he scored 12 and the next he bagged 20, including another couple against us. The goals kept coming. Twenty five in 13/14. And he got his 6th against us. He made that 7 in the next one as he scored 21 for the season. But he failed to add to his total against us in the next couple of seasons, because we were in different leagues, but he played twice against us in the PL in 2017/18, getting himself sent off at Vicarage Road for another nasty assault. Not on poor defenceless students this time, it was a viscous tackle from behind on Collin Quaner.   He didn't score when we beat them 1-0 at the JSS later that season and the next three times we played Watford, he didn't play, sat sulking in the stand when we beat them the other week when we once again beat them at the JSS.

Nice fella!

So if Deeney's their most famous, the second most well known must be Ben Foster, the goalkeeper. He's 37 years old now and has clocked up over 500 appearances at club level as well as gaining 8 England caps. I doubt he's had many more embarrassing moments in his career than the goal he presented to Fraizer Campbell at ours last month, after being closed down by Isaac Mbenza.
He started his career at Stoke City, but made his league debut out on loan with Kidderminster Harriers. He signed for Manchester Utd in 2005 but still couldn't get a game and so spent a couple of years out on loan at Watford. In his first season there, he helped them win promotion by beating the Champions of Europe 3-0 in the 2006 Play Off Final. He stayed on loan with the Hornets in the Premier League, but was then recalled by Alex Ferguson as back up for Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak. Both of them got injured though and suddenly he was in the team for his debut against Derby County.
He made 23 appearances in total for the Red Devils, but was then sold to Birmingham City, who were in the PL then. He only had one season there, followed by 7 seasons at West Brom, where in 2017/18 he was beaten twice by Rajiv van La Parra and once by Steve Mounié. When the Baggies got relegated, he went back to the PL when he re-joined Watford, suffering relegation again at the end of last season.

Austrian Daniel Bachmann is his deputy. He's played all his professional games in Britain. Starting out at Stoke, he's been at Wrexham, Ross County, Bury and Kilmarnock, with his only Watford games being three FA Cup games in the three years he's been there, one of them being on Saturday at Old Trafford.

In defence, 29 year old Spaniard Kiko Femenía is at right back. He has just recently clocked up a hundred games for the Hornets. Another Spaniard right back is Marc Navarro, but he hasn't made many appearances since he arrived a couple of years ago.

Centre back Francisco Sierralta is from Chile. Jeremy Ngakia arrived from West Ham in the summer. Ben Wilmot signed from Stevenage three years ago as an 18 year old and is just breaking through this season, after being on loan at Udinese and last season at Swansea. Adam Masina is an Italian, but was born in Morocco. He signed from Bologna in 2018.

Dutch defender William Troost-Ekong limped off injured in the match at our place just before Christmas with what looked like a long term job, but he's back already and played at Man U in the Cup. He may be Dutch, but has 44 caps for Nigeria. Christian Kabasele is a Belgian international, but was born in Zaire (now DR Congo). He has played over a hundred games at Watford, having signed from Genk in 2016.

The most experienced defender in the squad though is Craig Cathcart, the Northern Ireland international. He first arrived at Vicarage Road in 2009 on loan from Man Utd. He played 12 games in that loan spell, but then signed for Blackpool, who at the time were in the Premier League. He stayed there four seasons, then signed for Watford in 2014. To add to his 350+ club matches, he has 52 caps for Norn Irn.

When Cathcart arrived on loan from Man U, he joined his team mate Tom Cleverley, who was already there on loan. Cleverboy did get game time at Old Trafford when he returned, turning out 79 times for them. He was then sold to Everton, from where he had another loan at Vicarage Road, before signing a permanent deal in 2017. He's married to some reality tv star that I've never heard of.

French international Étienne Capoue, who had the good grace to score for us the other week, has now left the club. He joined Villarreal at the start of the transfer window, but we can't let him go without saying thank you for that delightful chip over his own keeper into the net...........

Merci beaucoup, Étienne

Will Hughes is....... well don't get me started on him. Let's just say, if he stayed on his feet more often, he'd be a great player. Marco Silva paid eight million for him in 2017. Ken Sema is Swedish, plays in midfield and spent last season on loan at Udinese.

Nathaniel Chalobah has a brother called Trev, who we had on loan last season. Like Trev, Nat was a Chelsea junior and had to go out on loan to ever get a game. He's been to Watford, Forest, Boro, Burnley, Reading and Napoli. He did have ten games for Chelsea's first team, but returned to Watford on a permanent deal in 2017. Talking of loans, they have Rockford Files star James Garner on loan from Man Utd. He was linked with us in the summer.

Young midfielder Domingos Quina is Portuguese and arrived there in 2018 from West Ham. Even younger is Kane Crichlow, who came from Wimbledon and has played one EFL Cup game as a sub.  

Their attack looks quite frightening. They have some top talent there, starting with the boy Deeney. They also have another oldie in the shape of Glenn Murray, who's on loan from Brighton and has over 200 goals on his CV. Andre Gray has over 160 goals for the likes of Luton, Brentford and Burnley as well as the Hornets. João Pedro is a 19 year old Brazilian and has five goals already in his first season at Watford. Stipe Perica is another who played in Chelsea's youth set up and has spent time on loan at Udinese.

Isaac Success hasn't lived up to his name at Watford though. Only 5 goals in 62 games. Ismaïla Sarr is a Senegal international, has ten goals in his Watford career and is no relation to our Naby.

In the January transfer window they have signed Danish winger Philip Zinckernagel from Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt. Never heard of him? Me neither. Or the team. Well they have "done a Leicester" in Norway, winning the Norwegian Eliteserien for the first time in their 104 year history.




Last league match line up at Swansea on Jan 2nd:
1 Foster
21 Femenía
31 Sierralta
6 Wilmot
3 Ngakia
23 Sarr
8 Cleverley
14 Chalobah
12 Sema
18 Gray
9 Deeney

Subs:
5 Troost-Ekong
11 Masina
16 Garner
19 Hughes
26 Bachmann
32 Navarro
40 Dalby
44 Hungbo
49 Crichlow

Or you may like to see their line up against Man Utd in the Cup. Not as many changes as we made.

26 Bachmann
32 Navarro
5 Troost-Ekong
31 Sierralta
11 Masina
23 Sarr
14 Chalobah
19 Hughes
7 Zinckernagel
10 João Pedro
18 Gray

Subs:
1 Foster
3 Ngakia
6 Wilmot
12 Sema
40 Dalby
41 Barrett
44 Hungbo
49 Crichlow
52 Phillips


Club connections: Jonathan Hogg of the current Town squad played for Watford. He started his career at Aston Villa, making 5 Premier League appearances and one Europa League match. These coming after making his Football League debut whilst out on loan at Darlington and actually scoring in the match, a 5-2 defeat away at Chesterfield.
After another loan spell away from Villa Park, down at Portsmouth, he then signed for Watford, playing two seasons for them without adding any more goals to his account, before signing for us in 2013. Since then he has been prolific in front of goal scoring twice in 242 (+ 13 subs) appearances for us. His first one was when an Oliver Norwood shot hit him and deflected past the keeper, Ben Hamer, in a League Cup match against Charlton. The second one though was a last minute belter in a tense early season game against Barnsley in the Play Off winning season.
At Watford he helped them to the 2013 Play Off Final, providing the assist for Deeney's famous winner against Leicester in the semi, before getting beat in the Final against Crystal Palace. That was his last game as a Hornet and made his Town debut at the start of the next season in a 0-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest. He did of course, eventually win a Play Off Winners medal in 2017.
He's had a few disciplinary issues since he's been with us. He's been sent off four times, one of them away at Watford in the Premier League match which we won 4-1, so it didn't matter.

Barry Endean, started out as an Everton youth, but when they released him he left the professional game for six years, becoming a welder. He was spotted playing pub football by a Watford scout and signed for them in 1968 and was top scorer in their promotion season the next year. He also helped them reach the FA cup semi finals, scoring the winning goal against Liverpool in the quarters.
He then played for Charlton Athletic and Blackburn Rovers, again being a prolific goalscorer, before signing for us in 1975. However, we were in the middle of our tragic slide to the 4th division and he only scored once in 12 matches in his Leeds Road career and left soon afterwards for Workington.

Rob Page had nine seasons in Watford's first team, one of which was in the Premier League. He made his debut in 1993, but in the late 90s as captain under Graham Taylor, he helped the Hornets get promoted twice, from the depths of League 1 to the Premier League. That second promotion came via a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the Play Off Final. Although they got relegated after just one season, Page was the Player of the Season. He eventually left for Sheffield Utd, playing for Neil Warnock, making the Play Off Final again, but this time getting beat by Wolves.
Later on towards the back end of his career, he had half a season with us on loan from Coventry. He also played 41 times for Wales, once as captain.

Andy Rankin was Watford's Player of the Season twice in the 1970s. In fact he was their first ever winner of the award in 1973, which was also his first season there following his transfer from Everton.
He played in goal 299 times for the Hornets, helping them to two promotions, before joining Town halfway through the all conquering 1979/80 4th Division Championship winning season. He was already a veteran by this stage, 36 years old, and had the experience that Mick Buxton was looking for to stand in for, and eventually replace the popular Alan Starling. He kept seven clean sheets in a row towards the back end of that season and although the team will always be remembered for the century of league goals, we cannot forget the contributions of Starling and Rankin at the other end.
He was the regular keeper for the next couple of seasons, but retired in 1982 to be replaced by Brian Cox.

Iwan Roberts began his career at First Division Watford in the 1985/86 season. He stayed there for five seasons, in which time they were relegated to the second division. He scored 9 goals in his time there and it must've felt like another relegation for him when he was sold to 3rd division Huddersfield Town in 1990. It was a club record for us, spending all of the £275,000 we had just received for the sale of Craig Maskell.
He was top scorer in his first three seasons at Leeds Road, the second of which he managed to bag a total of 34 goals in all competitions as we got to the Play Offs, getting knocked out in the semis. His fourth season though saw the emergence of another club legend Andy Booth and Iwan was allowed to leave in another big money move to Leicester City, who he would help get promoted to the Premier League. With a fraction of the money received, manager Neil Warnock bought Ronnie Jepson and the next great strike partnership was born as Iwan went on to become a legend out in East Anglia with Norwich City.

Lee Sinnott had four seasons in the top flight with Watford and played in the 1984 FA Cup final for them against Everton, before letting his career stagnate for 4 years at Bradford City. Neil Warnock saved him from oblivion by signing him for Town, where he captained the side to Play Off glory at Wembley in 1995. After two seasons with us, Warnock let him go to Oldham.
Last year, on the 25th of January, tragedy struck when Lee's son and former Town junior, Jordan Sinnott died after being attacked in Retford.

Nigel Callaghan also played in the 1984 FA Cup Final and was a star player in their glory days of the 80s. He scored 41 goals in his 7 seasons there before transferring to Aston Villa. It was from there he came on loan to us in 1991 and was crap!

Michel Ngonge was another one who came on loan but wasn't very good. He came on loan from Watford in 2000, having helped the Hornets win promotion in the previous season. His son, Cyril Ngonge, is just starting out in the professional game, playing for PSV Eindhoven.

Danny Drinkwater was a slightly better loanee. He came to us from Man Utd for the 2009/10 season. He played 37 games for us and scored twice. After a loan spell at Cardiff, he then went on loan to Watford, where he played 12 times without scoring. He then of course, went and won the Premier League with Leicester City and the FA Cup with Chelsea. He seems to have hit the buffers though now. His only game this season has been for Chelsea's u23s team in the EFL Trophy, with the squad number 95.

Joe Garner came on loan to us from Nottingham Forest in 2010 and despite not scoring in his 19 matches, he was quite good. But a non scoring striker ain't no good for Huddersfield Town and so we sent him back. He then signed for Watford and only scored once for them in 27 games before being shipped out to Preston, where he eventually found his touch.

David Mirfin was a centre back who had a knack of scoring when used as an emergency striker, most famously in a game at York City. He also scored in the Play Offs in the away leg at Lincoln City in 2004. After us, he went to Scunthorpe and won promotion to the Championship with them. From there, he signed a two year contract with fellow Championship side Watford. It didn't work out for him though and he went back to Scunny on loan after they had been relegated and then signed on full time with the Iron in the following season. He only played 4 times for Watford.

Theo Robinson signed for us in 2009 from Watford. He played once in their promotion winning campaign of 05/06 as a 17 year old and made one sub app in the PL in a home game against Newcastle. After loans to Hereford and Southend, he came to us and banged home 16 goals in League One. Now 31 year old and at his 16th club, banging 'em in for Port Vale.

Irish international Charlie Gallogly played for both clubs in the 1950s at full back. He played 76 times for us and then 47 for them. He'd had two caps for Northern Ireland, but then emigrated to America and got capped for them as well.

Peter Goy was a goalkeeper at Arsenal, but only played twice. He then went to Southend and then to Watford, where he played 27 times. After them, he came to Leeds Road as back up to John Oldfield. He played 4 games for Town at a time when we had Peter Goy, David Joy and Bobby Hoy on the books. Pity they never all played in the same team though.

Brian Greenhalgh played for Town as a striker in our 1970s First Division team, but not many times as he was up against Frank Worthington for selection. He later played for Watford. He had 15 games for us and 18 games for them. He is now a scout for Newcastle Utd.

Jack Swann played for Town in the 1920 FA Cup Final, and helped us win promotion in the same season. He scored 36 goals for us, including 3 in the cup run. After a spell at Leeds, he went to Watford and scored 27 for them. Later in life, when he was 89 years old, he was the special VIP guest at the centenary FA Cup Final at Wembley as he was the oldest surviving footballer from an FA Cup Final.

Further back in time, Fred Fayers signed for Town from Watford for our first Football League season in 1910. He was a central defender or right half and played as an amateur for Watford, but turned professional at Huddersfield. He played for us right up to the cessation for the First World War, but afterwards didn't return, opting to play for Stockport County.

Then we have some managers. Chris Powell managed Town just before David Wagner came along and won us promotion. As a player, he had one season in the Premier League for Watford in between stints playing for Charlton Athletic.

Aidy Boothroyd started his playing career with us and started his managerial career with Watford. He never made a name for himself at Town, but we all loved him in 2006 when he led Watford to a Play Off victory over the Bellend Beeston Bums.  

Bill McGarry played for England at the 1954 World Cup, alongside teammate Ron Staniforth. Bill played 381 times for Town, putting him 9th in our all time appearances list. He had ten years at Town, but after hanging up his boots he became a successful manager. Firstly at Bournemouth, then at Watford. He'd only one season at Vicarage Road, finishing 3rd in the 3rd division when only the top two went up. He then won promotion as manager of Ipswich before going on to be manager of Wolves for their 1970s glory years, winning the 1971 Texaco Cup, reaching the 1972 UEFA Cup Final and winning the 1974 League Cup.        

Watford in popular culture: Both Huddersfield and Watford have one geographical connection. They both have a River Colne. Ours runs right next to our stadium, whereas the one in Watford is about a mile away from theirs. It was a small market town until the Grand Junction Canal joined the river up to the Thames at Brentford. This brought bigger industries to the town and it boomed. Although that industry dwindled, it still is close enough to the Big Smoke to attract major companies to set up office there.

The most notable place there now though is the Warner Bros. Studios at Leavesden, which is in the borough of Watford. There's now some kind of tour there which is something to do with the Harry Potter films, but don't ask me about that. Never watched it.

There are some famous people from the town. The most famous would probably be Cyril Fletcher, with his catchphrase "Pin back your lugholes". Also from that era, Michael Bentine, the fourth Goon. He was probably a bit more famous than Cyril, to be honest. But more famous than them would of course be Carry On and Curly Wurly advert star Terry Scott.



Musically, in the home match thread theo offered us Roy Cooper and Simon le Bon, but refused us a glimpse of the town's most famous entertainer, more famous even than Terry, I talk of course of the legendary Geri Helliwell. Come on, theo. Give the people what they want.



And of course, it wouldn't be right to have a piece about Watford's popular culture without a performance from the great man himself. Here he is performing his classic hit Am Till Dandin.








Other Championship matches this weekend:

Middlesbrough v Birmingham City (12:30)
Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City
AFC Bournemouth v Luton Town
Bristol City v Preston North End
Cardiff City v Norwich City
Coventry City v Sheffield Wednesday Postponed
Derby County v Rotherham United
Nottingham Forest v Millwall
Queens Park Rangers v Wycombe Wanderers
Reading v Brentford
Barnsley v Swansea City (19:45)


Recent form - last 6 matches:
Town 2-3 Plymouth (FA Cup)
Town 1-2 Reading
Town 2-1 Blackburn
Barnsley 2-1 Town
Town 2-0 Watford
Coventry 0-0 Town


Man Utd 1-0 Watford (FA Cup)
Swansea 2-1 Watford
Watford 1-0 Norwich
Huddersfield Town 2-0 Watford
Watford 1-1 Brentford
Birmingham 0-1 Watford

Town are 13th with 31 points, Watford are in 6th with 37.

Leading scorers:
Terriers:
Josh Koroma (6)
Frazier Campbell (5)
Carel Eiting (3)
Isaac Mbenza (3)
Naby Sarr (3)

Hornets:
João Pedro (5)
Troy Deeney (4)
Ismaila Sarr (4)


January the 16th down the ages: How did we get on in previous matches played on this date?

1915: Nottingham Forest (a) Div 2, lost 2-3 (Ernie Islip, Charlie Slade)
1926: Sheffield Utd (h) Div 1, WON 4-1 (Roy Goodall pen, George Cook, George Brown, Billy Smith)
1932: Chelsea (h) Div 1, WON 2-1 (George McLean, Dave Mangnall)
1935: Portsmouth (h) FA Cup rd 3 replay, lost 2-3 (Alf Lythgoe, Tommy Lang)
1937: Brentford (a) FA Cup rd 3, lost 0-5
1939: Nottingham Forest (a) FA Cup rd 3 replay, WON 3-0 (Jimmy Isaac 2, Billy Price)
1943: Leeds Utd (h) Wartime League North, WON 4-1 (Billy Price 3, Harry Baird)
1954: Blackpool (h) Div 1, drew 0-0
1960: Leyton Orient (a) Div 2, lost 1-2 (Jack Connor)
1965: Northampton Town (h) Div 2, WON 2-0 (Chris Balderstone, Les Massie)
1971: Arsenal (h) Div 1, WON 2-1 (Les Chapman, Frank Worthington pen)
1973: Carlisle Utd (h) FA Cup rd 3 replay, lost 0-1
1982: Bristol City (a) Div 3, drew 0-0
1988: Crystal Palace (a) Div 2, lost 1-2 (Duncan Shearer)
1993: Bournemouth (h) Div Two (3rd tier), lost 0-1
1999: Portsmouth (a) Div One (2nd tier) lost 0-1
2010: Southend Utd (h) League One (3rd tier), WON 2-1 (Jordan Rhodes 2)
2016: Fulham (h) Championship, drew 1-1 (Mark Hudson)

Played 18, won 7, drew 3, lost 8.

Roy Goodall, who scored in the 1926 match was the club captain when we won the league three times in a row. He was also England captain and would've led the country's team into the first ever World Cup in 1930 if the FA hadn't been so toffee nosed about it and refused the invitation. He won 25 England caps, which was the club's highest total until Ray Wilson beat it in the 1960s with 30.

Dave Mangnall scored in the 1932 match and that was the 4th game in a row in which he scored. He would score in the next seven as well to set a club record of scoring in eleven consecutive matches.

The 1939 FA Cup win against Forest was the first step on a journey to the semi finals. This was the last time we made it as far as the semi finals. We were beaten 2-1 by Portsmouth at Arsenal's Highbury Stadium.

Chris Balderstone, who scored in 1965, was one of those who played both football and cricket professionally. After us, he went to Carlisle Utd, Doncaster Rovers and Queen of the South and played cricket for Yorkshire and Leicestershire. In 1975 he became the only player to play first class cricket in the County Championship and in the Football League on the same day. He played the 2nd day of a game at Chesterfield for Leics and was 51 not out at the close of play. He then drove to Doncaster to play in a 1-1 draw against Brentford.




The 1971 match when we beat Arsenal was one of the best games in Town's 1970s 1st division days. We beat the Gunners, who would go on to win the League and FA Cup double. The Match of the Day cameras were there as well and the goal by Les Chapman won Goal of the Month. And the penalty we got was for hand ball, but it was outside the area. This is officially the last time a referee has given us a bad decision in our favour.

And here it is. Fifty years ago today.......



The goal less draw at Bristol City in 1982 would never have been played today. They had cleared the pitch of snow, but everywhere else was deep in the stuff, including the open terraces where the away fans were stood. The game passed us all by as the whole 90 minutes was taken up by a massive snowball fight. All good stuff though, including walking back to the coaches when we got ambushed. Just a bit of fun!

Duncan Shearer, who scored in the 1988 game, is now coach of the Development Squad at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Jordan Rhodes, who scored twice against Southend on this day in 2010, was a prolific goal scorer for us and later Blackburn Rovers. He stands in 8th place on our all time goal scorers list with 87.

Quiz time:

1. Which manager did Watford sack to bring in Gianfranco Zola?
   
2. Who was Watford manager when they beat Leeds in the 2006 Play Off Final?
   
3. Who was Watford manager when they got to the 1984 FA Cup Final?
   
4. Which Town player scored twice against Watford on the final day of 1969/70?
   
5. Which Town player scored a hat trick against Watford on the final day of 2013/14?
   

Anagrams: all Watford related

1. John le Ton  
   
2. Herr Hatty Horne  
   
3. Halo Marry Tag  
   
4. Zion Cum Sox  
   
5. Photo May Fizzle  
   

[jjamez]

I'll say I remember 8 maybe 9 of their managers, didn't Oscar garcia have heart problems that caused him to leave?

On a side note, Ben fosters YouTube channel is worth a watch.

I'll say anagram 1 is Elton John.

---

Seems like we are without naby sarr this weekend. If so I can see us going 5 at the back with vallejo in between reg and Crich, would be murder to go with just those two.

[Lord Snooty]

There's rumours that Caramel Eiting is injured as well.

And you're correct with Elton John.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

2. Harry the hornet

[jjamez]

3 Graham taylor

[Lord Snooty]

Carlos presser. Confirming that Caramel's done his knee in and is out for 3 months.

---

Also missing......

Mbenza. Sarr. Pritchard. Diakhaby. Grant.

Stearman available next month.

Ward could be available Saturday.

[jjamez]

Expect Joel on the bench, hamer moving to swansea

[WakeyTerrier]

Pritchard has been missing since he signed on the dotted line.

I’ve mentioned elsewhere but Hamer off to Swansea on a free apparently.

This squad is desperate for championship ready recruitment

[theo_luddite]

It will be a bit of a turnip for the books if we beat them twice (again) this season.

The only surprise in them sacking the last Coach was that they did it after they played us and not before. Hell they could have sacked this one by now as well had they done it sooner with the last one. With the way so many clubs sack Managers/Coaches just before they play us, I'm surprised the TV pundits haven't cottoned onto it yet. Must be a red line on the fixture list in every boardroom. Where are we in the Division 3 games afore we play Town? If we're not where we want/expect to be, sack the useless b'stard, and his mates.

It's not Saturday yet is it? Still time.

[ritchiebaby]

5. The Pozzo Family?